>Don Aitken wrote:
>> On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 07:45:53 GMT, Alison Kilpatrick
>> <> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Transcribed from the 19 August 1828 edition of The Newry Commercial
>>>Telegraph newspaper, by permission of The British Library:
>>>
>>>The Irish Emigrants in Brazil.
>>> By accounts from Rio Janeiro, of the 14th June, we learn that a
>>>serious affray occurred at Rio a few days before the packet sailed. On
>>>which occasion the Irish and German soldiers, who had been disaffected
>>>for some time past, rose in their quarters, killed, wounded, and
>>>expelled their Officers, and were proceeding to a general revolt against
>>>Government, committing all kinds of excesses. An engagement actually
>>>took place in Campo Santa Anna, where a regiment composed of Irish and
>>>Germans were quartered. The Brazilian troops, joined by the town rabble,
>>>surrounded the rioters, who surrendered the next day for want of order,
>>>food, and ammunition; about 120 were killed and wounded on both sides.
>>>The English and French marines were also landed, and assisted in
>>>reducing another regiment at St. Christovao, which surrendered without
>>>bloodshed; there was still a regiment of German riflemen, about 1,200
>>>Irish, the latter unarmed, holding out for terms, at Praya Vermelha,
>>>under the Sugar Loaf. The Germans were going to be tried by a Court
>>>Martial, and kept in the forts in the meanwhile. The Irish were shipped
>>>on board the men-of-war, and going to be bundled off at the intercession
>>>of the British Envoy, either back to Ireland, to the Cape, or to Canada.
>>>
>>>=====================
>>>
>>
>> To give a bit of background to this, all of the senior officers of the
>> Brazilian armed forces were British (Lord Cochrane being commander in
>> chief of the navy). Brazil and Argentina were at war, and the British
>> government had just imposed its own mediation on the two sides,
>> neither of which was very willing, hence the presence of British
>> troops. The peace treaty was signed a week later (August 27); its main
>> provision was that the territory in dispute went to neither side, but
>> became independent under the name of Uruguay.
>>
>> This was the high period of Britiah "informal empire" in South America
>> - the theoretically independent countries of the region did what the
>> Britiah told them.
>>
>
>Os this when the Brits acquired the Falkland Islands, then?
>
British settlers had been there since about 1765, following closely
after French settlers. There was also Spanish involvement and an
amount of mainly non-hostile passing of the islands between the three
countries. The Republic of Buenos Aires tried to claim the islands in
1820 (with the US also sticking their oar in) as they had never been
formally colonised by the UK but withdrew their claim and the islands
were made a formal colony in 1833. Argentina never possessed the
islands until the unsuccessful war in 1982. Some of the
passing-the-parcel is described in:-http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/scotia/gooant/gooant070703.htm